Carpet-sweeper.



PATBNTED NOV. 14, 1905.

0. R. OHAPLIN.

CARPET SWEEPER.

APPLIUATIQIT FILED JUNE 6. 1904.

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Wiinesses: 0 ajgrzveni'ql rr 1gb n No. 804,213. PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.0. R. CHAPLIN.

CARPET SWBEPBR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNBB,1904.

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Witnesses: Inventor: ,2 .OrrilZlC/taplin,

No. 804,213. PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905. 0. R, GHAPLIN.

CARPET SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED mm: a, 1904.

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Ma i/185585 I In Vera/0i: 0,7 5 R- [in 0x y R WM WC 6M Allorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

()HRIL R. CHAPLIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- IIALF TOROBERT W. HOWARD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARPET-SWEEPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

Tn m/l Ill/MUM it may concern.-

Be itknown thatI, ORRIL R.GHAPLIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carpet-Sweepers, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being bad therein tothe accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to certain improvements in carpet-sweepers,particularly carpetswecpers of that class which comprise a casing, arotating brush within the casing with means for quickly and easilyadjusting the pressure of the brush upon the carpet, drivingwheels inthe rear end of the casing which have contact with the floor, anddriving connections between said wheels and the brush for rotating thelatter.

The invention relates to novel means for removing pieces of thread,string, or other fibrous material that may become entangled with thebristles of the brush, so that the rotary brushes are kept clean, alsoto a novel form of sweeping-pan and its connections with the sweeper,whereby the dirt is easily removed, and to various other improvements,as will hereinafter appear, designed to lighten the labor incidental tothe use of carpetsweepers,

The invention consists in the combination of elements and in certainparts of construction entailed in the combination of said elements toobtain the desired result.

A full understanding of the invention can best be given by a detaileddescription of a preferred construction embodying the various featuresof the invention, and such a description will now be given in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, and l attain my object by the mechanismthere illustrated showing such preferred construction, and the featuresforming the invention will then be specifically pointed outin theclaims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus, partly insection, the upper side of the casing being removed. Fig. 2 is a frontside elevation of the carpet-sweeper, part of the casing being brokenaway. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the rear of the carpetsweeper, part ofthe casing being broken away and the driving-wheel being in section.Fig. 4 is an elevation of the gear end of the same, part of the casingbeing broken away and part of the frame being in section. Fig. 5 isasectional elevation on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1, the brush having beenremoved. Figs. 6 and 7 are details of forward rollers. Fig. 8 is asectional view of one end of the brush-core. Figs. 9 to 12 are detailsof the same. Figs. 13 and 14 are views of the circular disk at the otherend of the brush-core.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

The carpet-sweeper is of that type in which a revolving brush within acasing is driven by a series of gears in one side of the casing, saidgears, part of which are preferably of librous material, being operatedby a shaft within the casing rearward of the brush and extendingparallel with the core of the brush having its gear in mesh with a geardriven by the drivewheels in the rear of the rotary brush.

As shown in the drawings, the inclosing casing consists of the end walls8 and 1) and the top wall 10, which extends, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5,entirely over the top, front, and rear sides of the machine and inclosesall of the mechanism of the carpet-swcrper except part of thedrive-wheels and their gear. The ends and top wall are preferably madeof rigid material, such as sheet metal or aluminium, although they canbe made of wood, while the pan of the sweeper is preferably made of tinor galvanized iron.

The numeral 11 designates a rotating brush, mounted horizontally in thecasing and projecting at its lower portion below the casing, sons tohave coutactwith the liner. (See Figs. 2. 3, and 4.) The top wall 10,which is designed to cover the rotating sweeping-hrush 11, has the endplates in and .1 preferably screwed thereon, and the rotative brush 11is mounted within the frame by screw-studs l2 l3,extending inwardlythrough the end walls H and i).

The core 18 of the brush 11 is provided at its end nearest the gearmechanism with a circular disk 14, which has a flange or rim 1b toinclose this end of the brush-core 1H, and it is fastened to thebrush-core 18 by suitable means. On the opposite end of the core 18 issecured a similar cicular disk 15, having a similar flange or rim 17.The circular disk 14 next to the gears is provided with a lug 19,

extending outward to fit into a notch or slot :21 in the end of thegear-hub 21, whereby the brush 11 is driven. Thebrush 11 is journaled atthis end by a screw-stud 12, screwed into and through the end wall 8 ofthe casing and extending inwardly through the gear and into thejournal-hearing in the circular disk 14 on the end of the brush-core 18.The other end of said brush 11 is journaled on asimilar screw-stud 13,screwed into the other end wall 9 of the casing and its stud endextending 1 inwardly into journal-bearing 20 in the circular disk 15 onthe end of brush-core 18. Said brush is removably supported in theeasing, whereby the same may be detached therefrom when such detachmentis desirable by first detaching the sweeping-pans and then taking outthe screw -stuil 13, that passes through the end plate 9 into thejournal-bearing 21) of the circular disk 15 on the end of the brush-core18, and this will allow of this 1 end of the core and its brush droppingdown and being removed from below without disturbing the gears. Thesweeping-pans 6i and 63 will have to be taken out from the casing toallow the brush to be taken down and out.

The center of the rear side of the upper casing 10 is cut away, as at22, far enough to allow a portion of the drive-wheels 23 and 2st andtheir spur-gear to extend inwardly far enough to mesh with thedriving-pinion gear .26, journaled on the inside of the frame.

There is extending at the opening in the center rearward ly from eachside of the upper main casing or frame 10 and at right angles to it twohorizontal parallel projecting arms or brackets 28 and 29, withl'iearings 27 and 3l)at their outer end to support the driving-shaft 31,that carries the two main supporting driving-wheels 23 24, locatedbetween the said arms :28 and 29 and which impart motion to the seriesof gearing that drives the revolving brush. The two supportingdrive-wheels 2 and 24:, which are suitably mounted in the center of therear side of the 1 main upper casing, are provided on their peripherieswith yielding friction-tires of rubber or other suitable material.

The supporting drive-wheel 23 cons a thin rim 32, which is provided witha web 34 on the inner end crosswise, forming at the center a hub. whichis attached to the main shaft 31. ()n the inner side of the web is a lug36, extending inward between the spokes of a driving spur-gear 25. toserve as a clutch i to cause the gear to revolve with the drive- 1 wheelin going backward or forward. The l supportingdrive-wheel :21 isconstructed similar to thedrive-wheel E23 and has the thin rim 33, withweb 35, having a similar inward-ex- 1 tending lug 36. Between thesedrive-wheels l 23 and 24 on the drive-shaft 31 is a driving l spur-gear25, which passes through the slot or opening 22 in the casing and meshesinto the pinion :26, fastened on the driving-shaft 37 on the inside ofthe framework, and a small casing 89 covers the pinion-gear nearthecenter, so that dust and dirt from the brush cannot reach it. Thisshaft is journaled at one end in the casing 39 and then extends along onthe inside of the main casing and is journaled at the other end in theside wall or end plate 8 of the casing, and there is secured to this endof the driving-shaft another spur-gear 41, meshing into an intermediategear 42 and this gear into a gear i3, that drives the revolving brush11. ()n the inner side is a plate or casing 8, protecting this gearingand the roller 50 from the sweepings of the brush, and at the other endon the inner side is a casing 9', protecting the roller 51.

The noise occasioned by the use of gears in carpet-sweepers has beenfound very objectionable; but by experimenting l have found that thegears can be made to run noiseless by using fiber or rawhide gears, andi also find that the same results are obtained if liber gears areinserted between the metal gears, and in my machine I thereforepreferably have the pinion 26 and the spur-gear 42 of librous material.

The intermediate gear 42 is journaled to the end wall 8 by a stud-pin44, screwed in the end wall 8 of the frame, and the gear 43, thatrevolves the brush, is journaled on a screw stud-pin 12, extending fromthe outside and inwardly through the end wall 8, as hereinbeforeexplained.

To keep up the front side of the casing or frame 11') from the lloororcarpet. there arein the front part of the machine su 'iporting rollers51] and .31, of rubber or other suitable material, one at each corner orend of the casing, and these rollers are journaled on studs 52 and 53,each of which is screwed into one end of an arm or lever 54. with a hubextendingoutwardly and through elongated slots 56 in the end plates 8and J to allow the hubs, levers, and rollers to move freely a. shortdistance up and down. The other end of these levers Stare journaled orpivoted on studs 58 to theend plates. urved tension-springs 6U, screwed,as at 60, to the end walls. have a free end extending downward andbearing on the levers 54, so that the free end of these levers where theroller is journaled is pressed down to the bottom of the slot in the endplates. This is to make a yielding pressure tothe supporting-rollers incase of an uneven surface of the carpet or whereby the frame may beslightly de 'n'essed to vary the pressure of the brush on the carpet.

At the lower edges of the top wall or main casing id is located anddctachably secured two sweeping-pans 62 63, longitudinally arranged oneon each side of the brush in position to receive its sweepings from thebrush.

l Centrally between the sweeping-pans thereis provided a longitudinalopening 64, through which extends the brush. On each side of the IIO IIS

opening are outwardly and upwardly inclined flanges -15 and 55, up whichthe brush throws the sweepings into the pans 62 63, and the two pans arepreferably connected in one piece by ties or strips 65, one at each endof the pans across the longitudinal opening. The sweeping-pans whenconnected by these ties or strips 65 are inserted into the casing fromthe front and below the casing and extend across to the rear of thecasing, which at its lower edge has two pointed pins or lugs 67 68,extending inwardly to enter the two corresponding holes 66 in the rearofthe rear pan, so as to hold the rear edge of the pans up in place. Thefront edge of the forward pan then moved upward until its upward andinwardly extending arm 63', containing the slot 70, receives theinwardly-projecting detentor latch 69. The latch 69 projects through anopening a0 in the front side of the casingnear the center of saidcasing, forming a latch for locking the pans in place, and this latch ispushed and held in locking position by the bulier-strip 83. The pans arereleased by pulling or pressing out the free end 69 of the latch, whichwithdraws the latch 69 from the slot 70. and then pressing down upon theshoulder 89 the front cdgc of the pans is lowered and the pans easilydrawn out from beneath the sweeper.

For cleaning the brush 11 from the threads, &c., after each sweepingthere is located on the inside of the framework a cleaningdevice runningacross or lengthwise of the casing and parallel to the brush, and itconsists of a rocker-shaft 72, which carries at its ends thebearing-trunnions 75, which are pivoted in the end plates and have arocking and sliding bearing endwise. On one end of the rockershaft 72 isplaced a spiral tension-spring 76 between a shoulder H of the shaft 72and the collar 91, attached to the side wall 8, causing an endwisepressure on the rocker-shaft 72. This rock-shaft carries a series ofpointed. wires or teeth 72 inserted therein to cover the entire lengthof the brush on the shaft. The ends of the wires or teeth of thiscleaning device, which acts as a rake to the brush, slightly enter therotary brush to remove the swecpings that may adhere to the brush aftereach sweeping. The points of the teeth are slightly curved alternatelyto either side, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, so that when the brush 11revolves in either direction the curved points will pick or rake off theremaining swcepings, including all hair, strings, &c., which may havebecome entangled within the bristles of the brush. Attached to thecenter of the rocker-shaft 72 is a lever or handle 78 to work thecleaning device to throw it in and out ot'contact with the brush 11, but

is to be used only after each sweeping is tinished, and in the top ofthis casing 10 is a small opening or slot 79, through which the slot aretwo notches 8O 81 for the lever to rest in, and by pressing on the leversidewise toward the spring on the trunnion the lever will leave thenotch in which it is resting and may be moved over to the other notch,and the spring will keep it in place, so that the teeth of the rake canbe kept in or out of contact with the brush, as desired. To prevent theteeth from striking the inner upper side of the top wall 10, a bar 57 isextended across from the end wall 8 to the opposite wall 9 above theteeth 73.

The hail 82, the upper part of which I have deemed it unnecessary toshow and which may be of any preferred or desired construction, ispivoted to the end walls a and 9 of the casing near the top of the endwalls and within a short distance of the center to the rear of the endwalls of the casing. The end walls are provided with curved camprojections or lugs 61 and 71, which extend laterally outwardlytherefrom and are adapted to engage the parallel ends of the bail 82when the hail is raised into a vertical position, as it is a desirablepositionto occupy when the sweeper not in use, while the location of thebail out of the center is made to bring the handle and hail pressuremore nearly over the driving-wheel.

A buffer-strip 83, of rubber or other suitable material, extends n arlyaround the sweeper in horizontal alinement with the sides and ends ofthe sweeper at or near the lower edge of the frammvork. Thisbuffer-strip 83 has attached to each of its ends a buckle or clasp 8485, with inWardly-curved hooks 86 87, respectively, on the end of eachclasp. One of these hook ends is entered or hooked into a small opening88 in the rear side of the casing ncar one of the driving-wheels, andthe rubber butter is drawn tightly around the sweeper until it reachesanother opening in the rear of the casing near the other side of theother drive-wheel and there is hooked. The said buckles or clasps arepreferably made from sheet metal by a stamping operation which arestamped all in one piece having two openings to pass the rubber stripthrough to fasten it. ()n the edges of these openings are barbed pointsto enter the rubber strip to keep it from slipping. (See Fig.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Paten t 1. A carpet sweeper having a rotating sweeping-brushin combination with a swinging comb having its teeth provided withcurved outer ends alternately pointing in opposite directions.

, lnacarpet-swee 'ierthecombination with a frame having paralleloutwardly-projecting arms of a shaft journaled in the arms,drivingwheels carried by the shaft,each driving-wheel having a webconnecting the rim and hub, each web having an inward-extending lug, aspurlever passes outwardly, and at one side of the gear mounted on theshaft and having the lugs IIO in mesh with its spokes, a horizontalshaft having' on one end a pinion in mesh with the spurgear, a brushmounted in the frame, and gears connectingthe other end of thehorizontalshaft and the brush.

3. In acarpet-sweeper the combination with a frame having an opening inits rear side, of outwardlyextending arms projecting rearward of theframe and on each side of the opening, bearings on the end of each arm,an axle mounted in the hearings and carrying a pair of drive-wheels,lugs projecting from the side of each drive-wheel toward the otherdrive-wheel, a gear on the axle between the drive-wheels having itssides in contact with the lugs, inwardly-projecting arms on each side ofthe opening, a shaft within the frame running parallel with the axle andmounted at one end in these arms, a pinion carried by the shaft in meshwith the gear, the shaft being mounted at its other end in the end wallof the frame, a spur-gear carried on this end of the shaft, a brush-coremounted within the frame parallel to the shaft and having at one end agear, and a gear in mesh with the spurgear and gear of the brush-corewhereby the brush is driven upon movement of the drivewheels.

e. In a carpet-sweeper the combination of a frame consisting of parallelend walls, a convex upper wall supported by the end walls and having atits rear an opening for receiving the drive-wheels, arms projectingoutward from the upper wall on each side of the opening, a brushsupported in the frame, a driving-shaft mounted within the frameparallel to the brush, a series of connecting-gears mounted on one ofthe end walls whereby the brush is operated by the drivii'ig-shaft, aninner easing iirotecting the gears from the sweepings, a pinion mountedon the other end of the driving-shaft, a casing protecting the pinionfrom the sweeping's, drive wheels mounted in the arms and extendingwithin the opening a gear carried by the drive-wheels and in mesh withthe pinion, an inner casing protecting the drive-wheels from thesweepings and having an opening" through which extends the pinion.

.In a carpet-sweeper having a frame, in combination with ahrush-coreofcireular disks fastened on each end of the core, and each having ahub, a stud screwed through each end of the frame extendimg into a hub,a gear loosely mounted on one of the studs and havin a notch in its huh,an outwardly-extendin lug on the disk nearest to the gear and extendinginto the notch, d1'ivin; -wheels in the rear of the frame and meansconnecting the gear and driving-wheels.

6. In a carpet-sweeper having a frame, a brush mounted within the frame,means for rotating the brush, a rocker-shaft mounted within the frameforward of the brush and having a series of teeth with curved outer endsbut which when in contact with the bristies of the brush have their bodyportion pointed toward the center of the core of the brush.

7. In a carpet-sweeper the coinhintion with a rotating brush and meansfor operating the brush, of a rocker-shaft for\ ard of the brush, wirescarried by the rocker-shaft the outer ends of which are alternately bentup and down, an operating-handle for the rockershaft for throwing thewires in contact with the brush.

8. In a carpet-sweeper provided with a frame, a shaft mounted therein,teeth carried by the shaft and having curved outer ends, said framebeing provided with a slot having upper and lower notches, a leverattached to the shaft and extending through the slot and adapted to restwithin the lower notch when the teeth are in operative position, andwithin the upper notch when not in use and a spring for pressing thelever into either notch.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signatu re in presence of two witnesses.

()RRIL R. IIAPLIN.

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